Rain, Rain, Go Away
by TheCookieWhoLived
Summary: Kakeru Manabe stumbles upon Kyo in the woods. It's raining, and doesn't seem like it will stop... What will become of our favorite leek-hating kitty and flying pot? ManabexKyo. Shounen-ai, yaoi. "Maybe I don't want the rain to stop."
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I DO, in fact, own Fruits Basket

**Disclaimer: I DO, in fact, own Fruits Basket. **

…**Sorry.**

**I lied.**

* * *

Snap. With that sound, the umbrella pushed open. "See you, then, Yuki!" called the holder of said umbrella.

The silver-haired youth nodded and waved.

"Are you sureeeee you don't need me to carry an umbrella for you, dearest damse-" Another teen, around the same age, was cut off by a firm punch in the gut.

Yuki glared at him, the vein on his fist throbbing. Manabe laughed and, saluting his friend over his shoulder made his way down the street.

Yuki rolled his eyes and shook his head, sending water everywhere. A few girls, currently shadowing him without his knowledge, cooed and crept after him as he turned and went in the opposite direction.

* * *

Kakeru Manabe was disgusted. There was water. In his shoe.

Therefore, his socks were wet.

And therefore, he was disgusted with the world and the rain.

He made sure the world knew. "I am quite disgusted with you, world," he remarked to the rain. Bending down, he pulled off his shoe, shaking it and causing at least one liter of water to pour out. The black-haired boy groaned in annoyance.

Currently, he was taking shelter under a large weeping willow tree in the woods between the school and his house. Peering out through its hanging branches, he could tell the downpour was beginning to let up. Water sunk into his school uniform as he struggled through the branches, taking his backpack with them.

He smiled cheerfully at the sky. He loved the rain.

Even if he was disgusted with it.

He continued lazily along the path, pausing to stop and splash in a puddle and, like he expected, sent water everywhere.

What he didn't expect, however, was a loud protest.

"Hey!" yelped a voice from beside him. Manabe blinked and turned around to see a tired look boy around his age, kneeling on the floor of the path.

"Watch where you're splashing that damn water."

This grumble didn't register, at first. Manabe's mind was busy trying to locate this boy among the many faces occupying his poor, strained brain.

Orange hair…orange eyes…unfriendly scowl…tendency to curse like a truck driver in 5-mile long traffic with gorillas in the back of his truck.

Aha!

"Hey, you're Yun-yun's cousin, aren't you!"

He blinked his weary orange eyes. What the hell was a yun-yun? Some kinda fruit?

"Er...Yuki," Manabe corrected himself. He grinned. "'Sup, Orangey?"

"WATCH WHO YOU'RE…calling…Orangey." The exclamation started out loud and angry, and faded away into a soft mumble.

Manabe tipped his head to the side. "Where'd your energy go?" He squatted and looked a little closer at him.

The rain had soaked through the orange-haired boy's uniform, and his hair stuck to his forehead, making him seem smaller than he actually was.

He didn't receive a response to his question. So he asked another one.

"Well, what's your real name, Orangey?"

"…Kyo." the voice came out small and weak.

He blinked his bright black eyes. Kyo?

…So this was him.

This was the boy Yun-yun had wanted to be friends with. This was the boy he'd aspired to be.

And this was his enemy.

He looked him up and down. It really was a pretty orange.

"What are you doing, out in the rain?" he asked.

"Taking a bath," the orange-haired boy answered sarcastically.

"WHAT?! That's disgusting!" exclaimed Manabe, putting a hand to his cheek in shock.

Kyo's eyebrow twitched. He reminded him of someone.

"'Sides…everyone knows you can't take a bath with your clothes on."

Ugh. Great. He was stuck out in the rain with Ayame's twin from whatever planet he came from. Groaning, he dropped his head, like his neck was unable to support it from frustration or exhaustion, or just a mix of the two.

A couple of moments of silence passed, the only sound being the soft rush of rain through the leaves.

"Well, let's go, then!" chirped Manabe and motioned for Kyo to get up.

The teen blinked in confusion. "Go? Where?"

"Your house, of course. What, d'you think that I'd let you just sit here until the orange starts dripping from your hair?"

He grumbled something that sounded along the lines of, "I can't."

Manabe raised a dark eyebrow. "You can't? What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly what I said."

"Eh?"

"Just go away," he mumbled. "I don't need some random person mothering me."

"Random person?" Manabe pulled a face. "You don't know who I am?"

"I know you're an idiot."

"Ouch. That was my pride, man."

"…"

"'Sides, I'm a School Defense Force Ranger! It's my duty to help those in need." He flashed a peace sign.

There was no answer. Kyo seemed to have lost all the will to argue and merely closed his eyes.

"Fine," Manabe said curtly, and without another word, hauled the weak boy over his shoulder.

"ASDFGHK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU SHIPDIT PUT ME DOWN BEFORE I BREAK YOUR DAMNED NOSE," Kyo screamed at the top of his lugs. Or at least he hoped he did. In truth, the only noise he'd managed to make was an indignant squeak. He commanded his legs to kick and flail. And yet, all he managed to do was flail.

Like this, with Kyo struggling to kick Manabe as hard as possible, they made their way through the path. They would have continued, too, until there was a large, blinding flash. The body over his shoulder went limp, and Manabe was left to blink confusedly in the spots of vision left on his eyes.

His load seemed to become drastically lighter – strange, as Kyo was pretty light himself. He also seemed to become…softer?

When Manabe managed to clear his sight, he turned to look at him – and was shocked to see a little orange cat on his shoulder.

He blinked, and then whirled left, and then right.

"KYO-KYO TURNED INTO A CAT!" he wailed.

Just kidding. That was impossible. He waved his hand. But, this cat had the precise color of Kyo's hair..

He waved his hand more, like he was whacking the thought left and right.

Lifting the small cat in his arms, he stared at it. It was drenched through and shivering violently. Frowning, he took the left side of the path and ran home, the cat curled up in his arms.

* * *

Mrs. Kimura was dusting off the delicate vase on the counter. She heard the back door slam open and shut, a shriek of a maid, the cry of a butler, and the skidding of shoes.

"We've got an emergency here, people!" shouted a voice from behind her.

She calmly dusted off the remnants of dirt from the vase, then turned around and surveyed the young master.

"Yes, Kakeru-san?"

She viewed the agitated teen clutching a small orange feline tight, both dripping wet. "You're getting my floor wet."

"Don't be so unfeeling!" he wailed, flailing about and sending more water.

The middle-aged woman placed her duster in her belt, then proceeded to steer her young master into the kitchen. "You should be glad for you my love is so vast I don't smack you silly for bringing another stray animal in the house," she said monotonously.

She threw a towel at him and took the shivering cat, toweling it down, ignoring the young man's protests of not being able to see with a towel over his…seeing devices.

"Is it just that you are a magnet for stray animals, or..."

Manabe pulled the fluffy towel off of his dark hair and frowned thoughtfully. "Well. There was this boy. And then there was this cat."

Mrs. Kimura stared at him. What?

She'd learned in her 10 years of service with him, however, to not doubt the ways of Kakeru Manabe.

* * *

Manabe, currently clad in his pajamas, stroked the cat's soft fur. It was quite soothing, in a way.

He had finally come up with a solution for his dilemma, that being the fact that a young man had been on his shoulder, and then, in a flash of light, was gone. The only explanation that came to his wonderfully inactive mind was that Kyokyo had somehow squirmed off, and then this cat fell out of the sky and landed on his shoulder.

This brought quite a literal meaning the phrase "raining cats and dogs".

He flopped down on his bed, and drew the cat over to him. It was hard to explain, but he was feeling affection for the creature already.

Burying his nose in its soft, cinnamon-smelling fur (where had he smelt this before?) Manabe closed his eyes and went to sleep.

* * *

**Don't laugh. It was a weird plotfish that was swimming round my thought-tank, and I caught it.**

**So I wrote it.**

**There are a couple of plot holes, but Eh. **

**Why NabexKyo, anyway? What kind of weird pairing is that? I dunno.**

**AND. I fixed this up. I don't really concentrate when I type...soo...bear with me. **

**Nabe: See, it's like her hands type so fast her brain can't follow. Or maybe her hands type at a normal speed and her brain is just slow.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry D: I've been having a helluva hard time getting into this damn computer**

**I apologize greatly for the delay. I haven't been able to write at all…I HAVE HIT A MAJOR ROADBLOCK.**

**But, thankfully, at 12:30 last night, this chapter wrote itself. The funny thing is…so did the epilogue. So at least there'll be no delay for the last chapter! :D Speaking of chapters, I don't plan to let this one pass five. But we'll see.**

**I must add that this is a fic. So I have the full liberty of screwing around with the characters and putting my view on them into this. I haven't gotten any complaints about it, but I'm sure they'll come. So yeah. On to chapter two.**

* * *

There are many types of warm.

There's that uncomfortable, flushed feeling that you get when you do something amazingly stupid or someone gets a little too close.

There's the refreshing warm that comes from a warm breeze on a cold day.

There's the gross, sticky warm on a hot day that makes you want to topple over and die.

And then, there's the comfortable, homely warm that you never want to get up from. A warm that feels safe.

Kyo awoke to feeling the last type of warm. It enveloped him in a secure blanket, and he never, ever wanted to move from it. Snuggling against the thing making him feel so comfortably warm, he sighed. He could definitely get used to this.

He fluttered his orange eyes open to the light peering in and glanced down.

There were arms. Around his chest. And one donned an uncomfortably familiar wristband.

Arms.

"ARGHHH!"

Manabe's eyes shot open. "AHH, WHERE'S THIS FIRE? Squad Black, reporting for duty!" His eyes landed on an orange-topped body lying next to him.

Ah? Kyokyo? Where was the cat? And how'd he get here into his house? And his bed...and arms...well then. Hello, there.

His wandering train of thought was immediately interrupted by a flustered shout. "GET YOUR ARMS OFF ME BEFORE I REMOVE THEM AND SHOVE THEM DOWN YOUR THROAT!"

Now Kyo was definitely feeling that first type of warm.

"Don't yell so loudly in the morning! It's bad for my skin. Jeez..." Manabe let his eyes drop back down and was in the middle of going to sleep.

"Off! OFF!" But that would be impossible with this loud person sitting so close to his ear.

"It's just a hug, man...not strangling you or anything." Manabe was uncomfortably straddling the fence between wakefulness and sleep, and wanted to just topple over on the sleep side, but no…

"A hug?! A HUG? You were practically spooning me!"

"Our clothes are still on."

"GAHHH."

The angry teen moved to shove the pillow in the sleepy one's face, jump out the window, and run as fast as his legs could take him. And yet, he found that he could not move the limbs required for this path of action. So he lay there pathetically, within the circle of Manabe's arms and cursing assorted inanimate and animate objects responsible for his pain.

Namely this idiot.

Within the next few moments of silence, Kyo noticed something very uncomfortable. He was now completely mortified. Horrified. Scared out of his pants, or lack thereof. He pulled out of the arms of the still half-asleep Manabe, inciting a whine of protest, and tumbled onto the floor.

Pants. He needed pants. If he had pants, he could think, and then everything would make sense. The fact that he was butt-naked on some kid's bed, and the fact that said kid had been hugging him. He shuddered.

Finally, relief. ON his desperate search, his hands had closed upon a pair of pants, the gift of God. There were a touch loose on his hips, but they would do.

* * *

_Big, black eyes stared at the woman before him. _

"_But why? Why can't we keep him?"_

"_Because, little master." Mrs. Kimura bent down to meet his gaze full on, and repeated for what felt like the hundredth time, "... we don't know anything about it. We don't know if it's wild, vicious, or infected. I apologize, but I cannot allow it. Your mother would have my head."_

"_But, Aunt! That isn't fair, to it or me!" The anger in the young boy's eyes and voice softened, and he clutched the small cat to him._

"_It needs me, Aunt. It..."_

* * *

Manabe blinked and let his eyes accommodate the dim, grey light. The sound of rain against his window reached his ears.

He wasn't going to let that bring him down this morning.

He immediately bounced out of bed – rather, on top of it. His feet apart in his Battle Stance, his hands on his hips, Manabe announced to the world, "Today will be a good day!"

It was his morning ritual, see.

Now to find the currently missing Orangey-Kyo. He sharpened his hearing.

"GAH." Well, that was quick.

Manabe mentally noted that if he ever needed to find Kyo again, all he'd have to do his listen for his unmistakable yell. His feet slapped against the cold marble floor as he followed the sound of the other's voice, and came to his destination.

"Orangey?" The youth was bent over in a strange, half-sitting, half-kneeling position. Ushering a passing cook over, he ordered, "Tell Mrs. Kimura to bring her medical stuff to my bedroom!" The man, taken aback at his master's sudden sharp tone of voice, immediately rushed off to do so.

"Wait," Manabe called. "Bring breakfast too." A pitiful look crossed his face. The cook, happy to see that his master was still the same person he was, nodded and continued his brisk walk.

He was about to pick him up, and then changed his mind. He didn't want whatever happened last time to happen again. Pulling the other's arm around his shoulder, he supported him back to his room. "This happens to you a lot, doesn't it?"

An orange eye cracked over to him and sent him a nasty look. "Shut up."

Manabe grinned slightly. "How mean….Oh, Mrs. Kimura!" His grin widened and he waved pathetically with one hand at the woman perched on his bed. "You got anything for this kid?"

A grey eyebrow arched. She was a bit perplexed, to put it lightly, as to why her master had a half-dead, half-naked boy leaning against him. "Another stray, hm, Master Kakeru?" She questioned wryly.

Kyo made a protesting noise at being called a stray. He was not a stray.

"Nooo, this is Yun-yun…Yuki's cousin!" His gaze flipped to the person supporting him. How did he know?

And more importantly, yun-yun? Oh, lord.

"I see." The vibrant-haired youth blinked and flinched slightly when she stood up and moved to him, just a scant three inches away. There was a lot of dangerous authority packed into that five-foot frame. He found himself snapping to attention (or at lest, a version of it) when she rested her hand on his forehead.

"Hmm. I'm afraid I'm going to have to diagnose you with…the common cold."

Manabe blinked. That was it? No dramatic pause, no drum roll, just Mrs. Kimura in her one-tone glory. He was shocked at the simplicity of it all, and made it known. "But he almost passed out!" He flailed his available arm in earnest.

She gave him a wan look. "Then it must have been your overwhelming energy."

He answered with a pout.

"Well then, young man." She turned to a disoriented Kyo. "The best way to handle a cold is to bathe it out." She gave him a brisk push into the shower.

"But…wait! I'm fine!" His protests were ignored as the bathroom door slammed shut.

Kyo sighed and rested his head on the cool mirror. This was all just a dream, he decided. That was what he was going to convince himself. It was all just a strange, strange dream.

Well. He glanced around the spacious, high-ceiling room, in its gilded glory. At least the dream had a nice bathroom.

* * *

You see, Kakeru Manabe was a very easy-going person. His motto was go with the flow. Unless, of course, said flow ends up being a raging river of DEATH.

Ahem. Quite.

He also was a very thoughtful person, and always set aside a certain expanse of time in which he let his thoughts wander like Little Bo Peep's sheep in a meadow.

Therefore, when he woke up to find a certain temperamental boy in his arms, his first matter of action was to accommodate him and act as if nothing was strange.

However, a lot was. Everything was strange.

He had gone to sleep holding a cat in his arms. No doubt about that. Then, he woke up to find a teenager in his arms.

Cat. Teenager. Cat. Teenager. Is there some sort of connection here?

How had Kyokyo gone from a sulky boy in the rain, to a sleeping cat, and then back to a sulky boy?

He supposed he'd have to stick to his theory of raining cats, followed by an unclothed Kyo crawling into his bed. It didn't make sense, but it worked. Somehow.

Detective Flying Pot would have to take care of this case. Or, he could just ask, but that would make a pretty boring story, wouldn't it?

He rested his face on the pillow and sighed. A little grin quirked at the corner of his mouth. They might not know it, but Yuki and Kyo were so alike. Both were ridiculously easy to fluster, both got these funny confused looks on their faces, and both seemed reluctant to take help in any shape.

The room fell silent, which he found rather strange. Kyo'd been in there for twenty minutes; what was he doing? Was he trying to shampoo out his anger and confusion? If so, it was going to take some time. Manabe decided to inform Kyo of that and opened the door.

"Kyoooooo-kyoooo, what're you doing? Leave some water for the fishes, poor dears, their environment's already screwed as it is…Kyo?"

"…" Kyo glared at him, daring him to laugh. Manabe took him up on it.

"BWAHAHAHAHA!" Lolling against the door, he laughed and laughed. The sound echoed in the bathroom.

The orange-haired boy scowled at him from his position. The shirt (borrowed from Manabe) hung on his slight frame. It was probably twice his size. The two were around the same height, but while Manabe was well built with wide shoulders, Kyo was just…well…skinny. Muscled, but tiny.

"Are you done?" His hands were on his hips.

"What is all of this ruckus? I shall have to d- Oh." Mrs. Kimura stopped her bustling and looked at Kyo. Her lips twitched up, which she tried to hide with a cough of mirth.

".. I have left medicine atop the bed. Administer it to him, if you will, Master Kakeru. Please be careful, and remember that one does not have to have half of the spoon in their mouth to take medicine." With that, she exited the room, shaking her head. Without knowing, those two boys had just given the staff plenty to gossip about for the next month or so.

"Roger!" Manabe brought his hand to his head in a curt salute. Kyo had an urge to do the same, which he passed off with a brush of his hair.

* * *

"C'mon Kyo. Drink it. Drink iiiiit. It's magical! It'll chase away your troubles. I swear, it isn't crack dissolved in Welch's juice or anything…"

"But it smells like it!" retorted Kyo. He stared at the offending spoon of medicine.

"Aw. Come on."

Finally, after twenty minutes of struggling, Manabe had given Kyo the medicine and he had retreated into the emptiest, most dimly lit corner of the room. All was well.

"..Thanks.." came a soft voice.

"What?" He turned around and stared at Kyo.

"I said thanks, stupid. For not leaving me out there."

A genuine smile took over Manabe's features. "No problem, Orangey."

"Stop calling me that!"

"_It needs me, Auntie. Nobody's ever needed me before."_

* * *

**D: Lordy. That was insanely long. Five pages of pt. 10 font, right there, to make up for the delay. It was originally two chapters, but I changed it. Thank me. Dammit.**

**Any questions or plotholes will be answered and filled in the next chapter. Really.**

**_AspNap:_ Aww. Thanks! I love you too, first-reviewer-san. :D**

**_ErrorX:_ Yessur. -dweebsalute-**

**L_a spina fra i lilla_: OMG. Your name's so...pretty sounding. Like an exotic flower. I hope I do not disappoint you. **

**_iKat.13:_ It is rather annoying. c'mon, Takaya. Work with us here. D: I just think they'd make a good couple. You know, balance each other out and whatnot.**

**_peepsolez: _Heheheh. Thanks.**

**s_icca: _Why thank you. :D**

**v_ittoria: _Don't we all. D: It's coming, though. **

**_YinYangWhiteTiger: _I'M SO SORRY. PLEASE FORGIVE ME. I. DO NOT. DESERVE. TO LIVVVVE. **

**Thank you all for being patient with me. I hope I haven't lost any reviewers with this. Update: Fixed this one up, too.**


	3. A note

YO. Cookie, here.

OKAY…where shuld I start.

My soul deserves to be divided into seventy five pieces and put in Ziploc bag.s Then aten by rabid dogs. With no teeth.

In short, I'm sorry. Epicfail is mine…

I know! How could I give up on THIS? This was my DREAM. PROJECT.

So.

I have to get my butt moving.

Next chapter. Update. Whatever. By this Sunday. No jokes.


	4. Chapter 3

**Baaaah. I'm sorry. Really I am ; 3 ;**

**Anyone who's put up with me for TWO YEARS- TWO YEARS!!!!!!!!- deserves a reward. So if you're one of the people who reviewed for the first chapter when it came out, and the second, and now this one, you definitely deserve HEAPS AND HEAPS of praises.**

**....**

**or you could just do a request :D I'll list the lucky reviewers in the next chapter (which hopefully will not take a whole half-year to update). It could be FruBa yaoi, or maybe a pairing from a different fandom, hell it could be HET. –gasp- yeah I know I know.**

**Muchas gracias to _DangerousDiamondDarling, Cole-Hyuuga, YinYangWhiteTiger, SeraphimXII, Nikik, eclipsedlight, loopycathair, CEILING CAT --_lolol_, Ketsueki-Ken, HeartAngel, sicca, random person, _and _BottleofWater,_** **my first reviewer!**

**So on with this thing. :D**

* * *

The ring of the phone echoed rather loudly throughout the house. So loudly, in fact, that Manabe was shocked out of his stupor as he zoned out while Kyo attempted to explain the poem in English and fell out his bed.

"AH PROTECT THE MELON!" he immediately yelled like his old gym teacher used to do back when they had to do those damned trust exercises in gym in which the crazy hag wouldn't give them a mat- anyway- and curled into a ball on his side.

A pillow quickly followed and knocked him upside the head. "Idiot! See if I help you again!" Kyo snapped, rolling on his side and grumbling about irritating people ie. a certain Kakeru Manabe.

Said raven-haired youth prodded the Kyo-lump in the back a few times. "Orangey~~ You're so nice and orange~ Helpful orange~ I'll name a crayon after you, it'll be called 'helpful orange' and be so much better than yellow orange or tiger orange.." "Shut up! Gah!"

Manabe grinned slightly. Eventually the cat had just gotten sick of choking down gross crack-Welch medicine and staring at the wall, listening to the other's whines of how he just couldn't get the homework...so Kyo had assisted him. In fact Kyo DID know his stuff, contrary to popular belief, he just didn't pay attention in class and studied like hell at home.

And even though he'd just met the guy Manabe insisted on sitting with him in bed and bringing him medicine and food and put up with regular beatings, verbal and otherwise, from the orange-eyed boy...it was..

Different.

Different from the treatment he was used to and just different as a WHOLE. Because while Tohru was always there for him and fussed over him there was an extent where she wouldn't go...she was too polite. Manabe was anything but- brash, overly outgoing, didn't take no for an answer...

Sometimes difference could be refreshing...it was like...different air here. A different atmosphere. No one knew what he was or that he should, by all rights, be hated for it.

While these thoughts skulked about Kyo's mind and Manabe blabbered about something or other the phone continued to ring and the cat-boy snapped, "You gonna get that or what?!" rolling on his stomach to look up at Manabe, brightly colored locks falling into his equally radiant eyes. He was like a little kid, with his bottom lip slightly pushed out at the fact that he was confined to the bed (the rain had started up again) and all...Kakeru covered an absent-minded grin and by this time the phone had stopped ringing- Mrs. Kimura had gotten it.

"Ah, Young Master Sohma...no, he is rarely inclined to picking up the phone himself, you know him. Busy at the moment with a stray..."

Yuki rolled his eyes. Just like Manabe...how many times had he come to school with a kitten in his arms or a mouse in his pocket and that stupid grin on his face? "And I'm not surprised. What is it this time- a rock he found in a puddle?"

Tohru wrung her hands besides him. She'd been worrying all day D: If she hadn't mentioned to the air that they had no rice Kyo wouldn't have gone out- or covered her protests- and if she'd thought to offer to go with him- this was all her fault! Shigure of course had no problem with the absence of the violent teen- "After all my house deserves a break too, don't you think, Tohru~?" but just like Yuki he pretended to search for the boy for her sake.

Then again, Yuki had to admit...it was awfully quiet without the other. Too quiet. He kept jumping at the smallest noises. Kyo was like this flash of color and without it the house seemed dull...

Well, that wasn't the reason! He didn't miss him or anything but the idiot was making Tohru worry, as usual...

"Actually," answered the woman on the other line, "It's a human today. A boy too, with hair as loud as his voice..."

Yuki's eyes widened.

"...and a rather foul mouth...this manor hasn't been so lively in years."

Kyo. Offff course.

* * *

"So the rain really bothers you, huhn?" Manabe asked the closed bathroom door, leaning back against it. There was a snort in answer from within. "You ask too many damn questions. It's weird enough I barely know you..." Kyo trailed off into a mutter as he turned the faucet off.

He laughed in answer, that clear, honest sound that hid nothing. "Yep! Which is why, Kyonkyon, you ask questions to get answers and that's how you get to know someone! No wonder you're so antisocial..."

"How are you acting like you've known me my whole life?! Weird-ass kid.." the slim teen opened the door, pulling his black hoodie back on- what he'd been wearing when he'd come here, so it actually fit. It was really no wonder he'd gotten a cold, Manabe thought, with such a thin thing on!

"Aw you should've put my clothes on.." "Shut up!"

Manabe laughed again and noticed Kyo was still wearing those beads around his wrist...strange...they were wet too, like he'd worn them in the shower. It was a kinda girly bracelet, surprising for this kinda guy. "You never answered my question."

What Kyo said was cut off by something being shoved in his mouth- spoon of medicine, ew! He wrinkled his nose and kinda wriggled a bit but choked it down again. If it was anyone else he'd put up far more of a fight, but in the past two days Kyo knew that Nabe would never let it go and would only proceed to say weird shit until he did. Better to avoid all that.

"...I just don't like it, alright? It tires me out which is why I'm not kicking your ass right now..." "Aha." Manabe eyed him for a bit and then caught his sleeve.

"Ah-?!"

"Just c'mon!" he grinned over his shoulder and bodily tugged him across the bedroom to the balcony, which he threw the doors open to.

"Are you insane?! After makin' such a big deal about me getting sick-!" Kyo loudly protested, yelping and catching the railing, glaring darkly over his shoulder. "You're so..." he paused and looked up at Manabe, who straddled the railing and looked over the dense forest with this...this...LOOK in his eyes. He'd never seen that kinda look.

....different...

"Hey, Orangey, y'know what you should do?" he pointed to the edge of the forest, where the greenery met the sky. "You should shout!"

"...shout." Kyo repeated blankly, just to double-check he hadn't said...well....there's nothing that rhymes with shout. SO YOUR LOGIC IS FAULTY KYO. D:.

Manabe carried on even with Kyo's incredulity. "Yep. You should shout your problems all the way to that very last tree...seriously! Keeping them bottled up like that isn't very healthy, you'll just end up exploding like a shaken cup of ramen."

Kyo didn't even bother answering this, still staring up at him.

"C'mon, no one here will know it's you! No one's outside anyway, not here...but think about it..." He hopped down and leaned on his elbows on the railing, dark hair curling from the weight of water into his sparkling eyes. "Someone, at least one person out there, might be listening. That one person might know all your troubles...all your loneliness, your pains, your rain-hating," he flashed a grin, "and suddenly your problems seem a bit easier to bear just cause there's another person in the world who knows and understands you."

"Suddenly, these things don't really matter...don't really bother you. And who knows? One day you might even meet the person! Kinda great huhn?"

He flicked his eyes down and curled his lip. "Or probably just weird."

Kyo still didn't answer, but not because he was just ASTOUNDED by his stupidity...but because...he got it. He understood what Manabe was saying. And Kyo had the feeling that in his own way the other had been in his position once, kept on the outside, feeling like there had to be something better somewhere else but too afraid to start looking...and above all else yearning to be included in.

There was someone he could relate to. And that someone was standing right next to him. It was too overwhelming...it must just be the medicine, having this weird fuzzy effect in his head, making him think dumb, optimistic crap. And everyone knows optimistic = dumb. The cup isn't half full or half empty- there's no water in it in the first place.

He peeked at Manabe through his bangs, saw the way the drops caught on his curling, smoky lashes and made his already glittering eyes shine all the more.

"Whatever....you're stupid..!" he whirled on his heel and returned back inside. "This's probably just some dumb way of you trying to get me more sick, asshole..."

Manabe lingered even after he'd gone. He was grinning, widely, a little dazedly. Because he saw in that split second the look in Kyo's eyes and the tiny smile on his lips, even if he hadn't realized it...

He'd made Kyo the Giant Grump SMILE!

Victory~ Manabe- 354353467567567567567567d3 World- 10, and the d is ten thousand more points, so hah.

"If you get more sick," he whispered to the never-ending rain, "will you stay longer?"

* * *

Yuki cursed and fiddled with the latch of the umbrella, opening the bright red thing up again. "Sorry, Honda-san.."

"Ah, it's no problem, Yuki-kun!" Tohru smiled sweetly up and made sure he was properly under too before they set off down the paths again. She was so glad that Manabe-san had found Kyo...! She thought that Manabe-san didn't really like her...but he seemed really nice and was good friends with Yuki! So, she couldn't complain.

"I just hope Kyo's alright..."

"I just hope that idiot's alright," Yuki murmured, then snorted. "The other one." Knowing Kyo's flighty temper and Manabe's over-sociability..

As the path winded out of the forest he spotted the familiar manor and then the black-haired boy standing at the balcony...but it was weird...Manabe had this dazed look on his face.

Oh, GOD, Kyo had given him even MORE permanent brain damage! Yuki groaned and grabbed Tohru's hand, hurrying her along and ringing the doorbell, hoping to get to them before it was too late and get that stupid cat off poor Manabe's hands...!

* * *

**ALRIGHT THAT'S IT.**

**Oh yes- one more thing, requested by a reviewer.**

**What WAS the staff gossiping about? Hehe...**

* * *

The Manabe manor was a vast place, filled with almost forty servants of varying professions. Now, this was quite helpful at times but....

It also led to a huge communication network.

Aka, a gossip train.

Which meant when something happened it jumped around like a giant bunny on steroids...and like a giant bunny on steroids was hard to hide away after.

You see, the butler wasn't a gossiper! Oh no. He was a trusted, gentlemanly man, too busy to involve himself in such silly twitterings...but he just had to tell the gardener as he was making his rounds about the boy who the young master was keeping in his room! After all the man had some weird notion about Manabe bringing home an orange cat or something, ridiculous really..

And then of course the gardener was just mentioning it in passing to show that other damn gardener that HE knew more about what was going on inside! The cook had heard and mentioned it to another and soon the secret of the young master carrying a very good-looking and half-naked guy around was spreading EVERYWHERE as the giant steroid-bunny took its victims.

"Can you imagine it?" whispered the curly-haired woman, pausing to press her towel to her cheek. "Just think...two boys lost and confused in the dead of night, so unfamiliar with these feelings...~"

The blond beside her collapsed into giggles, blushing. "And to think that Master Kakeru was in the same be-" she yelped as a sponge was wrung out on her head. Ms. Kimura had her hands on her hips, eyebrow twitching. O....sht.

"Are you getting your pay check in your mailbox to idley gossip or to work?" she asked in a dead calm voice which usually meant Inner!Kimura was screaming and raving.

As they scurried away the woman tucked her silvery hair back in her stern bun, glasses glinting and hiding her eyes. "Heh..." she pulled out a photo of Manabe keeping the weakened boy down to the bed with just one hand on his tanned chest, laughing while Kyo snarled death threats if he didn't get off.

Let's see Manabe wriggle his way out of work now~ Fufufu.


	5. Chapter 4 FINALLY

**Errrrr. I should probably have an excuse but…I don't –w- so HERE JUST TAKE THE CHAPTER…it's longer than the others just for you ;w; **

**It's a lot more serious than the others too, I'm sorry, I swear the next one will be funnier! OTL I wanted to get this out before my friend came over so I just posted it right away, I'll add review replies late on Sunday…if anyone's still reading, ahaha.**

**feel free to spam me all you want if I don't update by wednesday D:! seriously!**

**

* * *

**Manabe coughed awkwardly.

He cleared his throat.

He fiddled with the napkin between his fingers.

He cleared his throat again and-

"WOULD YOU STOP THAT?" Kyo snapped nearly tossing a fork at the dark-haired boy's head, until his sunset colored eyes took a glance at the ornate welding on it and his eyebrow twitched. Better not…it was probably worth three times as much as he was. He turned it over, seeing a gold coating.

Make that thirty. Who knew such an obnoxious kid could come from such a swanky family?

Speaking of swanky, currently the two were seated at a large mahogany table, the carvings into the side clearly done painstakingly by hand. The chandeliers far above their heads hanging from the broad ceiling twinkled and danced in their own light, creating little gold glints to flit about the room, of which one wall was lined with a huge case of extremely expensive things within.

To put it simply, it was the kinda place Kyo certainly didn't belong. He was afraid to even put his FEET on the polished floor! Especially with all these people running around in staff uniforms…he swore the moment he got out of this chair someone was gonna rush over with a sponge and scrub it clean.

…reminded him something of what the inner compound might be like.

Whatever. They were waiting for that damned rat (how had he found him here?) and Tohru to finish speaking with Mrs. Kimura who apparently either had something to say, or though this didn't come to Kyo's mind, wanted the boys some time alone for reasons of her own.

The moment they came out he could leave.

Leave. For good. Back to...

…to….

"Hey- Orangey- Orangeyyyyy…" the cat focused and found two crow-black eyes rather close to his own. Acting on instinct he yelled and elbowed him right in the face and Manabe wailed rolling over. In his chair. Yep, he could do that.

"AH, Orangey! This is the moneymaker right here! I knew I should've insured my face…"

Kyo wasn't entirely sure if he was joking. But he'd never hit someone and had them COMPLAIN. Yuki hit him back and Haru goaded him into punching him again- and anyone else would flee in terror when the orange-haired youth took a single step towards them- but this?

"I mean what if I can never use my nose again! I'll have to adapt like a snake…and lick everything to smell it…soon my arms and legs will disappear and I'll have to wiggle on my stomach to move and-" Kyo cut the other's rant off.

"Dammit! Don't you ever get sick of hearing your own voice?" Now, whether it was because he felt a sense of debt towards the boy for taking him in and housing him for three days, he sharply tugged Manabe's hands down. "Lemme see.." "No!" "Stop being such a friggin baby!"

Scrunching up his nose the school vice president lowered his hands. "Is it broken? It's broken right?" Rolling his eyes the irritable teen leaned in closer, orange locks falling over one equally bright eye. "There's nothing there. Drama queen…dammit...you're a bigger princess than that ra- er, Yuki."

For some reason that elicited a flash of Manabe's eyes. Or maybe it was just the glints of the chandeliers reflected in those dark depths…

But in reality, the mention of his best friend irked Kakeru Manabe. It was a mention of Kyo's usual life, whatever went on back on, and this afternoon when he decided to plop himself down in the middle of a hallway to think and ignore all the maids and gardeners tripping on him…he realized something.

He didn't want Kyo to go back. In the short hours, though he couldn't explain why or how, they'd spent together he knew he needed him/

But who was he, and who was him?

For now the raven-haired youth grinned and brushed his fingers through the others vibrant bangs. "Yknow you should really get these cut. What if you can't see past em and bump into a wall?"

Unused to such a careful but bold touch the Sohma froze. Charcoal eyes softened and- the door slammed open and Kyo sprang back (much like a cat who just got kicked in the tail Nabe thought) and there stood Kyo's usual roommates. An odd look crossed Tohru's sweet brown eyes as if she'd seen something, but she said nothing, except giving a sweet smile. "Kyo..!"

Quickly crossing the room the slight female was about to hug him but then a. realized who Kyo was and 2. What would happen if she did so she kinda did an awkward halt right in front of him. "I'm still so glad you're okay…we were so worried…"

"Yeah, yeah," Kyo muttered rolling his eyes and rested his cheek in his hand. But Manabe swore his voice turned a bit softer, kinda, and he grumbled so only she could hear, "I'm fine Tohru…stop stressin'." But Manabe could hear too.

"Kakeru…Kakeru…" Snorting Yuki prodded his cheek. "Pay attention, doofus."

"Yun-yun! Long time no seeee~ did you see the new décor in the hall?"

The beautiful young man raised a silvery eyebrow. "If by 'décor' you mean that picture of a green stick in a puddle, then unfortunately yes." "It was an alligator! Oh how difficult is the life of a misunderstood artist…"

Yuki scoffed and gave the boy a tug ushering him to the far end of the table. "…I have to thank you for taking care of my idiot cousin, Manabe. He's all in one piece and surprisingly, so are you."

His fellow student council leader laughed quietly. YES, QUIETLY. He could do quiet stuff too yknow. "He's threatened to take me apart more than one time if it makes you feel better. You're not that much different, y'know? You both are.." he counted off on his fingers. "Cranky bad at making friends violent r-"

"I get it," Yuki held up a hand eyebrow twitching. "Look..Manabe. We're a lot more different than you understand. The rift between us- you know. I told you.

"Besides you don't really know him enough to say that…lucky you."

Manabe laughed but inside something twisted.

* * *

Tohru covered a giggle as she listened to the tall dark-haired teen's tale.

"He really passed out?" "Yeah, he was like, out like a bear!" Yuki snorted. "I think you mean out like a light." "I know what I know what I mean, Yun," he held up a finger wisely stopping at the entrance.

The sweet-hearted girl glanced over to Kyo who was standing a little ways away leaning against the door with a usual scowl on his lips staring at a picture on the desk. It was of Manabe, holding hands with some pretty girl with a sweet smile. He mumbled an answer to Mrs. Kimura, who said something about "impudent boys" and swatted him over the head with a duster. The brunette smiled a little as Kyo crouched and clutched the back of his head yelling at her for being a "cranky old hag" and then coughing trying to swat her away when she waved the blue duster in his face.

He looked so lively, but maybe that was because she hadn't seen him in so long.

"Thank you so much Manabe-kun…you really took care of him. I don't know what we would've done if it wasn't you who found him..!" she squeezed his hand and he blinked before smiling at her. She had such a kind smile…just like Maki.

"Hey, what kinda School Ranger would I be if I didn't help the little people?"

She gave him a confused look and Yuki facepalmed. But she smiled, again.

"Manabe-kun...if you don't mind me asking. Will you keep being Kyo's friend? I think he's happier than he used to be but…you could make him even more happy. At least, that's just how I feel! Ah..I might be stepping out of line…" she bit her lip and held up her dainty hands worry clear in her face. "B-but if you don't want to-!"

"I'd love to, Honda-kun," he murmured and when Tohru looked at him he blinked and grinned. But she thought he looked awfully serious…and she knew he was a nice person. He had apologized after all, even if he had said something like 'that' to her, all those years ago.

"Come on Yuki-kun..!" she smiled brightly and waved before leading Yuki out. "We should call Shigure-san.."

This left the two boys together again, alone. Suddenly they felt awfully…distant, Manabe thought. Like with the reintroduction of Yuki and Tohru something had torn them apart.

Surprisingly, Kyo was the one to speak first. He cleared his throat. "Right- well…er…" he rubbed the back of his neck brow furrowed in embarrassed irritation, or irritated embarrassment Nabe thought…or maybe irritated irritation…embarrassed- FOCUS.

It was a good thing he started paying attention when he did or he would have missed the soft, "….thanks. Or something. I guess."

Manabe's bright smile lit up the room and his eyes. Kyo said it like it was killing him.

"You're welcome, or something, I guess," he teased back and Kyo scowled at him and that only made him all the more happier.

Then the sun-colored teen was turning away, he was walking away, towards the door about to leave and wouldn't you guess it, it was raining again.

Something caught his sleeve and Kyo looked back in surprise and there Manabe was, the smile wiped off his face, eyes almost frighteningly serious.

"…stay."

Later he would think about how ridiculous a request this was. Stay? They were practically strangers, besides Kyo had a home. He had a life. A separate life that had never truly crossed paths with Manabe's before this day. And above all it was a pretty weird thing to say…

He wondered if all of this was what Kyo was thinking too, when he stared at him with shocked orange eyes, and Kakeru couldn't help but notice his pupils had dilated like a surprised kitten.

Then Kyo pulled his arm away and he backed up lips parting. "I….uh…" the cat of the zodiac turned tail, so to speak, and ran.

And Manabe stood in the rain black locks hanging in his eyes and turned his face up towards the heavy, sagging gray clouds.

"What're you so upset about?" he whispered to the sky.


	6. Chapter 5

Ff. day late. I swear I had this typed up yesterday but I forgot my cousin was coming over!

**At least it wasn't a year? –shot-**

**Aaah I'm a terrible person there's no way around it. **

**Anyway, in this chapter there are some new characters brought in and I totally forgot what they talked and looked like xD I had to dig up my old manga to remember. I AM HUMILIATED…**

**Primeval Edalon Scar: Hahah. Thanks! I'm so ASHAMED –W- but believe me if I don't write…it can always be blamed on my laziness.**

**IndecisivelyPersistant: Manabe's just a silly boy. Getting in his mind is quite the experience xD I'm glad I got SOME of that enormous character down.**

**A question: an answer! For some reason I just couldn't picture Tohru NOT talking without the polite –kuns and –sans and stuff. And something about Manabe and her's relationship made me do the same for nabe…ff…weird explanation.**

**Lilac Rose66: No worries. Actually tbh your review was what totally jabbed me into writing again haha. I felt like I was being scolded for stealing cookies xD**

**TheOneComplication: pff xD it's a pretty cracky pairing. Sometimes I wonder about my mental health…**

**Omnomnom: ahhh that's a question that will be answered later ;D –sly-…-trying to be sly-**

**La-russophile: sounds like a good plan to me! –strikepose- NO SHAME…**

**Tuliharja: Yeah, I was rereading it and I was like…bleh. I don't do angst well ff **

**Ajj7sunhawk: thank YOU for reading! C:**

**Lazy Gaga: LOL. Love the name. ff fanks**

**YinYangWhiteTiger: I was kinda scared no one would wanna read it anymore –w- but I guess I have the privilege of being the only writer for this pairing, I think?**

**WHICH BRINGS ME TO AN INSPIRATIONAL SPEECH aka KEEPING YOU FROM THE CHAPTER.**

**A lot of people said they loved this pairing and wish there was more which hmakes me warm and fuzzy inside :3 so…why not write some yourself? Spread the loooooove! Together…we shall rule the FruBa fandom! BAHAHAHA.**

**So anyway after a whole page's worth of review replies and my own ranting…here ya go. EDIT: fixed the divider thing, haha. also i have something to complain about: i logged in and the captcha was in what looked like HEBREW? WHAAT?**

**

* * *

**"Sir, here's your socks mismatched like you requ- sir?" the maid squeaked as hands landed on her shoulders and picked her up like she was a piece of furniture, setting her back down again as he dashed by.

Her jaw dropped and she rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't dreaming. Young Master Manabe was…hurrying.

For SCHOOL.

Had someone spiked her coffee this morning?

"I need my breakfast ready!" "Get my tie!" "Why is there a mushroom in my pocket?" "Iron my cape!"

He skidded to a halt before Mrs. Kimura who raised an eyebrow at the last demand and shrugged. "Sorry, got carried away. Onwards!" he skidded down the halls in his socks to maximize his time getting from here to the breakfast hall. Brilliant, right?

He'd planned this last night from the moment he woke up to how brushing his teeth in the shower would make things more efficient (didn't exactly go as he'd planned but now at least his…arm smelled minty fresh). All Manabe knew was that sleeping alone last night had been…awful. Lonely.

_He'd finally dragged himself in sopping wet, teeth chattering. It was kinda ironic how he'd ended up in Orangey's position….so Karma really did exist. _

_The halls had been so quiet without him. Or maybe, it was cause Manabe was quiet too, now. With Machi living with her mum he'd forgotten how quiet it could get with no one to talk to._

_Ignoring everyone's concerned questions he dragged his sorry dripping self up to his bed where he flopped dramatically for about five hours. In reality it was like two minutes but SHUT UP OKAY THIS WAS MANABE'S NARRATIVE._

_So anyway, five long hours, brooding. He truly didn't know what was upsetting him. Two rejections in a row, maybe? He'd asked her to stay too…and she'd left. In tears. But Orangey didn't cry…woulda been nice to see him cry…just to know he felt it too. Like in those few moments they'd known each other they'd each touched something inside each other that no one else ever had…and then it was gone._

So yeah.

Last night had kinda…sucked.

But it was a new day, and he'd just wasted one and a half minutes retelling everything that had just happened to him! Who even DOES that? To make up for lost time Manabe shoved waffles and orange juice down his throat at the same time, grabbed his backpack, and dashed off.

* * *

Snap. The tip of the pencil broke and Kyo cursed softly ignoring the teacher's glare for his potty mouth disturbing the utter silence of the classroom. He stared at the question on the paper and its strange letters, written in English. What an irritating language, it didn't even make sense! He bet Americans had no idea what they were saying half the time…

He filled in the bubble for B and moved on to the next and blinked and heard that doofus (as in Manabe's) voice reading it in his head, a bit blurry, because Kyo had been slightly delirious and still sick.

"_A rose is a rose is a rose." _

_He stared down at him indignantly._

"_I mean you're not gonna say a rose is a lamp!"_

_The cat of the zodiac groaned and buried further under the blankets. "Who gives a shit about what it means? It's just a friggin poem…" _

"_But it has to mean SOMETHING. Why say something that means nothing, y'know?"_

_Orange eyes peeked up from under the blankets to blink at the other boy before rolling and shutting. "I swear I can hear my brain cells screaming bloody murder…"_

_A laugh. Then a snap of fingers. "I got it! It's like…Orangey is orangey is orangey. You're always gonna be you no matter how many times you throw heavy stuff at me or call me stupid…or anything." His eyes danced and never saw Kyo's expression because he was buried under the covers._

_Always him…_

Kyo shook his head. Tch! He wouldn't think that if he knew the truth…he was just being the idiot he was, spouting nonsense. The beads on his wrist rattled and he scowled before scratching in an answer and moving on, while Tohru watched him out of the corner of her eye.

He'd been like this since he came from Manabe's house...withdrawn…sullen…

She couldn't help but wonder what had happened there.

* * *

Five hours later, a very disappointed raven-haired boy dragged his sorry body into the student council room. He hadn't spoken to Kyo even once today…they had just one class together, and that was lunch, and when he'd met the other's eyes Kyo had turned away and headed for the roof. He knew Kyo had seen him. So why?

Heaving a sigh he flopped on the desk on his stomach sadly.

Then he started waving his arms and legs back and forth.

"What the- what the hell are you doing? Idiotic vice president! I just organized those papers!"

Hearing someone insulting him Manabe picked his head up hopefully and sighed when he only saw fair brown hair. "Ahhh…it's just you, Chibi-suke…"

Nao's eyebrow twitched frowning at the upperclassman. "What is that supposed to mean it's just you- hey, answer the question!"

"isn't it obvious?" the vice president dropped his head dejectedly back down in the pile of papers, muffling his voice. "I'm making a paper angel."

A stunned silence as Naohito tried to regain his composure after being something told like that followed. "Enough of your blatant stupidity! OFF!"

He pushed at Manabe's side and instead of laughing at him the taller boy weakly tapped the top of his head with his hand. "Divine…" too depressed to continue he dropped his head back down with a thunk.

Nao gaped at the sorry figure, scared out of his MIND. He was so down he couldn't even whack him? Holy crap- was he sick? Dying? Was the apocalypse coming?

"Don't worry, you all have a reason to smile again!" came an obnoxiously cheerful voice. "Kimi's here!" the pretty girl bounced in and gave a playful salute before gasping at her vice president. "Kakeru!" Quickly she rolled him over onto his back where she swore she saw his soul float out of his mouth.

Sobbing dramatically Kimi threw herself on his body. "Don't go towards the light! Stay with Kimi!"

Scowling Nao finally managed to shove Manabe on the ground off the table and muttering under his breath, the perpetually stressed brunet sweeping up papers and stacking them once more while the fallen boy lay sprawled out in the same position he landed. Kimi folded his hands on his chest and gazed up with her sparkling eyes.

"Now Kakeru, tell Kimi what's wrong! Did you eat bad meat? Did you fall down the stairs this morning?" Suddenly she recognized the look in his eyes from the sort of expression she'd made many a man give and gasped clapping her hands together. "Is it a girl..? Are you cheating on your girlfriend?"

Inwardly he snorted but on the outside he sighed. "No Kimi-chan…it's…actually, kinda. I'm trying to get this person's attention…"

Nao scoffed. "Since when have YOU had a problem with getting attention?"

He shook his head and sighed folding his arms behind his head, eyes getting a far-off look. "Nah Chibi-suke…this person's different than everyone else."

Kimi blinked and sat up. Wow…that kind of look…it was like everything she'd ever seen in a romantic movie…! A fierce glint entered her eyes and Nao got a very bad feeling of impending doom.

"This can only be handled by a woman's gentle touch!" "What gentle touch- ow!" Nao yelped as a dry eraser hit his head and snarled at her while she dragged Manabe to her feet. "Come on! I have the perfect plan!"

Startled he blinked staring down at her. "..really?"

She made the peace sign smiling sweetly and Manabe's coal eyes lit up a grin slowly returning to his lips. It could work…

"Chibi-suke, tell Yun-yun we're on a top-secret super-important School Defense Force mission!"

"No way, don't involve me in your blatantly stupid-" he yelped again as a hand karate-chopped him on the head. And there it was….the fated yell of..

"DIVINE PUNISHMENT!" and then he was off, dashing through the hallways hand in hand with Kimi.

A grin played on his lips, and hope filled his heart.

"Jeez. Doesn't he have a girlfriend already? What's he doing chasing after someone else…" Nao rubbed the back of his throbbing head and scowled taking out a stapler and giving a start when he saw blank amber eyes staring at him.

"AH! What's your problem Machi!"

"….she broke up with him," she said in her empty monotone. "Komaki did."

Absorbing this news he fell silent, then gave the girl a strange look. "…how long have you been here?"

"The whole time…"

He made a face that can only be described by emoticon. Owo;;;;;;;

* * *

Kakeru took a deep breath.

"Here goes nothin', Kimi…"

She smiled at him and squeezed his hand before handing him the flowers and he started to scale the wall.

"Don'tlookdowndon'tlookdowndon'tlookdown," he chanted to himself and of course he looked down and panicked but he kept climbing.

Using sources he didn't even knew she had the playful temptress had found that Kyo came to this wall every day and met Tohru, that tough chick Uotani who once threatened to shove- well anyway it hadn't been very nice- and that scary Hana girl- and they walked home. Occasionally they were accompanied by that punk kid with the odd hair or the funny blond boy.

Kyo arrived before the girls did. That was his chance. Taking a deep breath he jumped over but before he could open his mouth when he saw orange hair…

Strong fingers grabbed him and yanked him back into the shadows, an iron grip that Kakeru, no matter how he struggled, couldn't escape, and the flowers fell to the ground, their petals bright against the cold pavement.


End file.
